Knobless door latch



Dec. 27, 1949 w, R E 2,492,322

2 She'ets-Slieet 1 Filed June 6, 1946 INVENTOR.

FRANK WRULSSELL ATTIC! RN EY Dec. 27, 1949 F w, RUSSELL 2,492,322

KNOBLES S DOOR LATCH Filed June 6, 1946 v 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 m 2 Lh 8INVENTOR. H Q FRANK WRUSSELL ATTCI RNEYB Patented Dec. 27, 1949 UNITEDSTATES PATENT OFFICE 1 Claim.

This invention relates to a knobless door latch for swinging doors orsliding doors. The principal objects of this invention are to provide alatch that is modern and streamlined in design. eliminating the use ofdoor knobs, easy to keep clean and germ free, easy to install, longerlived due to the parts thereof being less exposed, and is inexpensive tomanufacture with few operating parts.

With the above and other objects and advantages in view, the inventionconsists of the novel details of construction, arrangement andcombination of parts more fully hereinafter described, claimed andillustrated in the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the latch embodying the invention;

Figure 2 is a perspective view of the strike plate and locking means forthe bolt latch;

Figure 3 is a plan view thereof;

Figure 4 is an edge view thereof;

Figure 5 is a sectional view of the latch on the line 5-5 of Figure 8;

Figure 6 is a sectional view on the line 66 of Figure 7;

Figure 7 is a cross sectional view of the latch;

Figure 8 is a sectional view on the line 8-8 of Figure '7; and

Figure 9 is a modified form of the invention.

Referring more in detail to the drawing, the reference numeral l0designates a section of a door on which the latch I2 is mounted.

To permit adjustment of the latch to doors of varying thicknesses, thehousing 14 comprises complementary side plates l6 and I8 which are bentat right angles along the lines 20 to form the end plates 22 which arejoined at the rear thereof by a plate 24 which by means of screws 26coacts with elongated slots 21 permitting adjustment of the side platesfor difierent thicknesses of doors. The side plates are secured to thdoor It! by fasteners 28, and door plates 30 are hingedly mounted at 32in the plates. The doors are provided on their rear surfaces adjacentthe forward edge thereof with apertured ears 34 having nuts 36 pivotedthereto by pins 38, and arms 40 are threadably received in the nuts 36at one end thereof and provided with an eye 42 at the other end thereoffor pivotal connection by a pin 44 to the sliding bolt 46.

The bolt 46 is provided with an elongated slot 48 for the mountingthereof on the transverse pin 50 mounted on plate l6 and receivable inthe keeper 52 on plate l8, and a recess 54 in the door l0 permits fullretraction of the bolt 46 at all 55 1,164,743

times. It will also be noted that the eyes 42 of the arms 40 are alsoreceivable in the slot 48. The forward end of the bolt is alsoreceivable in the medial aperture 56 formed in plate 24 and a collar 58on the bolt engages the leaf spring 60 mounted in opposed keepers 62 onthe plate 24 for the tensioning of the bolt.

In Figure 9, the spring has been replaced by a coil spring 64 and thehousing 66 is made in one piece of sheet metal bent to form the sides 68and end plate [0; otherwise, the structure is as previously described.

A strike plate 70 adapted for mounting on the jamb I2 by means offasteners 74 is provided with the opening 16 for reception of the bolt46 and a latching arm I8 is pivoted at on the plate 10 for engagement inthe transverse slot 82 in the bolt 46 for the retaining of the bolt inthe keeper.

The bolt is retracted by means of the pivoted doors 30 inward pressurethereon causing the arms 40 to slide the bolt rearwardly. Both doorsopen simultaneously, and the spring returns the bolt to extendedposition after pressure on the doors has been released.

Thus a latch has been provided in accordance with the objects of theinvention, and it is believed that the operation and constructionthereof will be apparent to those skilled in the art. It is also to beunderstood that changes in the minor details of construction may beresorted to, provided they fall within the spirit of the invention, andthe scope of the appended claim.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desiredto be secured by Letters Patent is:

A door latch of the type described, comprising an adjustable housing, abolt slidable in the housing, an elongated slot in said boltlongitudinally thereof, a pin supported by said housing and receivablein the slot in said bolt to retain said bolt in sliding position, meansfor sliding the bolt into locked position and said means comprising aspring sleeved on said bolt and adapted to project said bolt outwardlyof said housing during the sliding movement thereof, means for slidingthe bolt into unlocked position and said means comprising outwardlydiverging arms pivotedly connected to the bolt within the slot at theirinner ends, and means for operating the means for sliding the bolt intounlocked position and said means comprising door plates pivotallyconnected to the outer ends of said arms and hingedly mounted in saidhousing.

FRANK W. RUSSELL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date Musselman et al. Dec. 21, 19151,249,472 Painter et al. Dec. 11, 1917 1,430,330 Seaver Sept. 26, 19221,687,248 Hurd Oct. 9, 1928 1,964,114 Gerlach et al. June 26, 1934

